Resisters—Sisters: Women’s March 2.0 Cincinnati
When PoC “are literally telling you that they’ve been pushed aside and excluded, then you don’t get to say you’ve never done it.”
Update 1/19/2018:
I’m aware of some efforts to bridge the divide between United We Stand and Black Lives Matter.
These efforts did not result in any kind of public statement of agreement. Black Lives Matter is holding its own event at 3 PM in Over-the-Rhine.
I’m still not marching. And I’m feeling quite disappointed. Last year, the March gave me hope. This year, it’s making me sad.
On Sunday, just two weeks before the scheduled Women’s March 2.0, Black Lives Matter: Cincinnati announced the organization would not be joining the march this year. The reason? Refusal by local organizers of the march, United We Stand, to change the tag-line or theme of this year’s event, Hear Our Vote. “Our only request was to change the theme from “Vote” to “Voice.”
They made this request because their organization’s adopted official principles mean that they “do not respond to calls to action that filter the power of our community down to casting votes.”
It was never clear that repeating the March was a good idea. It’s not really possible to match, let alone exceed, an event that is unexpectedly very large and impactful.
It seems impossible that the experience — or the turnout — could ever equal the 2017 March. And that means we’ll likely be reading reviews that conclude the movement’s momentum is slowing.
But if the March is going to happen again, then it’s wildly important to consider the Whiteness of the original march, the charges made against the national organizers in 2017, and take serious care to be inclusive. So, if PoC and representatives from civil rights organizations aren’t part of the planning and doing, it’s not going to work. Even if you invited them, you’re in trouble. It’s time to ask: Why aren’t they coming? What can we do differently to set the table for everyone?
As the conversation about this split unfolded in social media, organizers of the Women’s March have said they are hurt by the BLM:C statement and by the reactions online. But they weren’t backing down. The reaction of white and black women (and it was mostly women) seemed largely to encourage a compromise. Many were astounded that the United We Stand organizers failed to accept such a request.
Unfortunately, the March organizers from UWS chose to turn off Facebook post comments in response to this criticism — which suggested they didn’t care to listen. Not a great move when failure to hear the voices of PoC was the subject under discussion.
This is all pretty awful. The commitment and efforts of the United We Stand organizers is widely noted and appreciated. But the burden is on them to work this out. And their response, so far, has been weak and they seem deaf to the sound of their own privilege.
Really, it barely matters what the facts are here. Organizers need to make it work. And that means the (mostly) white women who are organizing the march have to be aware of their place in the community. They have to consider that people may not have attended meetings because they didn’t feel welcome or hadn’t felt heard in the past. And that if they aren’t heard this time, what are the chances of partnering in the future?
I don’t think that anyone from United We Stand deliberately pushed people aside. But here’s the thing: When PoC “are literally telling you that they’ve been pushed aside and excluded, then you don’t get to say you’ve never done it.”
If this isn’t resolved in a way that brings BLM:C back to the March, a lot of people, including white people like me, are not going to attend. I don’t want to be part of a Women’s March that does not include an important civil rights group in our city.
The facts of the dispute, especially as they’ve been offered so far, aren’t important. No one who finds this troubling will be persuaded that this split is justified by learning more about the details.
If we can’t fix this, the headline will be: In Cincinnati, separate events for black and white people on the anniversary of the historic Women’s March.
And it will be a tough road back to partnership if we can’t solve the problem now. Too many White people have dismissed the words and feelings of PoC for all of history. It’s on us to do better, right now.
